As Steelers fans prepared to watch their team take the field for their 2024 regular-season finale, many tuned into the Baltimore Ravens' home game against the Cleveland Browns. With a Ravens upset loss, the door would have been cracked wide open for Mike Tomlin's team to take advantage of a golden opportunity.
Unfortunately, there was only ever hope and prayer of the Browns pulling through when we actually needed them to win.
The Ravens are the better team, so even playing against a Browns team with something to play for likely would have been easy enough. However, it was clear that these two franchises had very different agendas in Week 18.
Baltimore deployed their starters in an effort to rack up the score early and put this game out of reach. It worked. With a win, the Ravens would officially claim the AFC North crown. The Browns, on the other hand, held a 3-13 record prior to the season finale. Cleveland had nothing to play for other than a better pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
It showed. The Browns 'benched' polarizing quarterback Jameis Winston, who is known to string together massive performances from time to time. Perhaps in fear of accidentally winning and worsening their draft position, Winston wasn't an option in this contest.
Instead, the Browns turned to reserve quarterback Bailey Zappe... then quickly benched him for Dorian Thompson Robinson... then turned back to Zappe again.
The results proved to be much like we anticipated. The Baltimore Ravens wiped the floor with their bottom-dwelling AFC North rival in a 35-10 win. Sadly, the Ravens' win had potentially monumental consequences for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Steelers' path to the Super Bowl will come on the road
With Baltimore's Week 18 win, the Ravens locked up the AFC North and claimed the No. 3 seed in the AFC Playoffs. This means that quarterback Lamar Jackson and company will be gifted at least one home game in the postseason this year.
In the process, the Steelers will finish second in the division. Because Pittsburgh failed to claim the top seed in the AFC North, they will be a Wild Card team. This will be either the fifth or sixth seed, depending on whether they can defeat the Bengals tonight.
If the Steelers prevail in their season finale against the Bengals, Mike Tomlin's team will travel to play the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. A loss would result in the Steelers traveling to Baltimore to face the league's top-ranked offense.
A road game against the Texans is a favorable matchup. Houston is ice-cold and practically earned a playoff spot by default (somebody had to win the AFC South). However, this still creates an incredibly daunting scenario.
Pittsburgh's route to the Super Bowl is now the road least traveled. In order to emerge as AFC Champions, the Steelers will need to win three straight road games... and the competition is only going to get stiffer as they go on.
There is hope. The Pittsburgh Steelers were one of the few teams to ever win the Super Bowl from a Wild Card seed; however, this did come with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's tenure with a fantastic defense.
Winning the division and hosting a playoff game is what every Steelers fan was rooting for. But even with the Ravens claiming the AFC North, Pittsburgh is still in the playoffs and will have a chance to make a Super Bowl run.